‘How my 7 month-old pregnancy disappeared’

. She must have lost the pregnancy at early stage – Doctors
Can a seven-month old pregnancy disappear? Well, a 36-year old mother of two, Halima Dogara, says hers did just that. Doctors however think otherwise. Weekly Trust reports.
A 36-year-old mother of two, Halima Dogara, her husband and the people of Gure village in Lere Local Government Area of Kaduna State are still in shock over what they term “the mysterious disappearance” of a seven-month-old pregnancy.
Since the conception of the pregnancy in January, which was first confirmed by a private clinic in Gure village, Halima has lent herself to antenatal services at the Kaduna State-owned General Hospital (Dabo Muhammed Lere Memorial Hospital, Saminaka).
Weekly Trust gathered that Halima, a student at the Federal College of Education (FCE) Zaria, got married on April 21, 2003 and spent five years without a child. But luck smiled on her thereafter, as she was blessed two male children – the first in 2008 and the second in 2010. Both children were delivered through surgical operations.
Halima told Weekly Trust that she was excited when her third pregnancy entered its seventh month. Her excitement was however short-lived as the expectant mother saw her bulging tummy suddenly turned flat.
“What happened was that in January this year it was confirmed that I was pregnant. I have been going for antenatal at Dabo Mohammed Lere Memorial Hospital Saminaka. But around July, 2013 when I wanted to go back to school, I felt that the child I’ve been carrying for seven months is not moving. I still proceeded to school because we were writing exams,” Halima told Weekly Trust.
“Before I got to the examination hall,” Halima continued, “I told one of my course mates that I couldn’t just understand my pregnancy because I couldn’t hear any movement of a child. She said there is a gynecologist at ABU Teaching Hospital Shika, who has a scanning centre and that on her way home, (because she was staying at Samaru) I should follow her so that he can examine me.”
Speaking further, Halima said, “After writing the paper that day, I followed her. At that moment, my tummy was no longer big as it used to be. I met the doctor and he started the scanning. The doctor asked me why I didn’t take water before coming. They told him that I was there to check my pregnancy,” she said.
“The doctor said I was not pregnant. That he couldn’t find anything to suggest I am pregnant. The doctor asked me how many months was the pregnancy, I told him seven months. He was shocked. He kept checking for several hours and at the end he told me that I was not pregnant,” Halima said.
“The doctor told us my stomach is normal and that the endometrial cavity is empty. I asked the doctor whether he did not see anything like dirt, with child particles; he said everywhere was normal without any problem. I was totally confused because I did not feel sick, neither did I see any blood stain on me throughout the antenatal months,” she said.
“When I came back home from Zaria, I went to the private clinic in Gure, the same place the pregnancy was confirmed,”  Halima said adding that, “The doctor at the hospital knew I was seven months pregnant but when he tested me, he also found nothing. He was quiet for some time. When I asked him what the problem was, he said he did not hear the movement of the child,” Halima said.
“He then said that he was going to run a test. After two hours, the result was ready without the pregnancy. He said he was going to do further tests at Saminaka town and if he did not see the pregnancy that I might not find it again,” she said.
“I went back to school in Zaria. While at the school, I ran a scanning test, but they could not find anything. Here is the result of the scanning and the card I was using for my antenatal,” Halima said while presenting the scanning results where she was confirmed to be preganant.
Her husband Mr. Dogara Joga Kadafi said his wife was conspicuously pregnant when she left home for school in Zaria on the 5th of July.
“When she was about leaving home for school in Zaria, she complained of not feeling any movement of a child in her body. I looked at her, the tummy was still big. When she got to the school, she went to study in the class at night because they were writing exams at that time. She came back to her room and as she was about changing her cloths, the big tummy that was carrying seven months pregnancy became flat,” said the husband who added that his wife had to travel from Zaria back to Saminaka General Hospital where she was undergoing antenatal care, only for the hospital to discover that the pregnancy has disappeared.
Kadafi, a class teacher who hails from Gure village, said the incident is still a mystery to him.
Halima’s friends and relations in Gure and other parts of Kaduna State are still in shock about the mysterious disappearance of the pregnancy.
Asabe Yakubu, who Halima always visited each time she was in Saminaka for antenatal, told our correspondent they are still confused.
“One day, she came for booking at the hospital and after she finished, she came to my house crying. I asked her why she was crying, she said the doctor told her they will have to perform a surgical operation if the time she will give birth comes,” Asabe recalled.
“The pregnancy was six months old at the time and they told her that she will be operated again because that is the hospital she gave birth to her first two children,” added another friend, Mrs. Dorcas.
Some of her friends and that of her husband including Joseph Waziri, Mrs Bege Ibrahim and Karbemu Akaya James told Weekly Trust that Halima was heavy and had been going for antenatal care before the mysterious incident.
The owner of the clinic were Halima was confirmed pregnant, Dr Inuwa Kuruki Gure said, “The woman was pregnant and I personally referred her to the general hospital so that she could commence antenatal. Medically, it is impossible for a seven months pregnancy to disappear and I have not experienced it before. I actually attended to her at the early stage of the pregnancy, but can’t just tell how the pregnancy disappeared. “When I discovered that she was pregnant, I advised her to commence antenatal at the General Hospital. But when she came back from Zaria last month, I discovered that the pregnancy was no longer there. But it could be that she lost the pregnancy at the early stage because I was unable to attend to her at that stage and I can’t just conclude now that the seven months pregnancy has disappeared,” the doctor added.
“The pregnancy was two to three months when I attended to her and disappearing like that is questionable. Before going to Zaria, I conducted an ultrasound and she was two to three months pregnant. When she came back, I carried out another ultrasound and there was nothing,” Gure said.
Medical personnel at the Dabo Mohammed Lere Memorial Hospital Saminaka confirmed to Weekly Trust that Mrs Halima had booked for days and was attending the antenatal at the hospital. The Chief Medical Director of the Hospital, Dr. Iliya Bulus, said Halima might have experienced missed-abortion where the child will no longer be there alive, but would reduce to a leather size.”
“I had an operation on a woman that told me she was pregnant for seven years. I saw the baby inside the womb very tiny and I removed the baby which was just like leather and very hard like a small stone. I had even wanted to use a hammer to break it. It was in Zugwai Clinic in Kafanchan that we did the operation. She stayed for seven years thinking she was still pregnant. When she went for scanning, the scan shows that she has fibroid. As I went to do fibroid operation, lo and behold, I saw a baby on top of the abdomen inside the womb. She could not see her period for seven years and the baby was already dead and remained like a stone,” Bulus added.
Meanwhile, doctors in Kaduna are seeking ways to further explore Mrs. Halima’s case because, to them, the disappearance of a seven month pregnancy is a mystery.
Chief Medical Director of Yusuf Dantsoho General Hospital in Tudun Wada Kaduna, Dr Mohammed Armiyau, said it could be that the woman was not pregnant or lost the pregnancy at an early stage before proceeding with the antenatal.
“It’s possible that her menstruation seized as a result of some complication that led to swollen stomach. It could be fibroid or any other complication but it still depends on her age. If I’ve seen her, examined her, I can better prove it because scientifically, we cannot prove she was pregnant. Seven months pregnancy simply means a child has been fully formed with head, legs and everything in the human body. So, if she had given birth, they would have seen it in the scan,” Armiyau said.
For Dr Yahya Hussein, Chief Medical Director, Barau Dikko Specialist Hospital in Kaduna, “it is possible that she lost the pregnancy at the early stage and continued with the antenatal without knowing that she has lost the baby. Yes she may not have had any period and her stomach increased in size or scaled -up. It could be seedy mouse size or false pregnancy because there is no way she will have pregnancy in her stomach [and] after six or seven months it disappears,” Hussein said.
Another medical officer at Kaura Rural Hospital, Dr. Sheyin Madaki, said “It’s highly unlikely for a pregnancy of seven months to disappear. But two things are involved. Was it actually a pregnancy or was it just a pregnancy related event? I will be interested to follow up this case,” Dr. Madaki said.

weekly trust